A/N: Hello, all. This was running in my head. It's a sort of sequel to "Blazing Truths"/"Frosted Ideals". Enjoy.
Electrifying Judgement
"He didn't say who we're supposed to be looking for?"
"Unfortunately, no. Just that anybody lower than the rank of Captain would be crushed by the sheer amount of reiatsu."
The one who spoke first frowned at this. Who in this world would be like that? His thoughts went through a few choices, just before his eyes widened noticeably.
"Do you know who it is, Roina?"
"I... I certainly hope I'm wrong, Hitsugaya."
Hitsugaya frowned at this. He'd never seen Jake Roina like this. With shunpo it took little to no time to find the source of reiatsu they were clearly hunting for; the source was in some desert place, training hard with his team. A creature of green fur and on four legs gave a mew to the man that caught his attention, both Hitsugaya and Jake nearby. The unknown man started to turn.
"Oh, shit," Jake whispered, paling. Hitsugaya looked at his comrade with a questioning frown. "Uh – talk later."
Then, in a single shunpo, Jake was gone, leaving the youngest captain in history to scowl and face the man alone. Looking back to said trainer, he found the young man looking towards him with a frown.
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Hitsugaya later found Jake on the mountain that split the region in two, in a place that held ruins and spoke clearly of the world's age. He was there pacing furiously, a frown on his face.
"I don't understand why in the world it had to be him!" Jake exclaimed the moment his friend was nearby.
"So you do know him," Hitsugaya said, raising an eyebrow.
"He's one of my best friends. We've been friends since we were little. I don't know why I'm so surprised."
"Why wouldn't you be?"
"Remember Arceus mentioning how those of us in this world that have high reiatsu are basically attracted to legendary Pokémon?"
"What of it?"
"Imagine Kitora being a big magnet for legendary Pokémon. A lot of them."
"How many are there in existence?"
"I think I remember Zekrom mentioning there being almost 40, did he mention how many he's caught so far?"
"I think I remember him introducing three of his team as Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina..."
Jake stared, before giving an amused snort.
"Before the ambush that got me, we met up; he had Giratina back then from a situation similar to how I met Zekrom..."
"Hey, Jake!" Kitora greeted happily as they met up at Striaton City's cafe/gym. Best place to meet up for a snack, really.
"Hey, man," Jake returned, his Serperior curled up around the chair. Kitora's Espeon took a chair quickly. "What's new with... who's this?"
"Tani will do," The man said with a smirk.
"He's a trustworthy friend, you can tell him the truth," Kitora said, rolling his eyes as he and 'Tani' took a seat.
"I know that," Tani said. "But I'm certain he has something on him that could help him figure me out."
Jake blinked and frowned. The only thing on him that identified other creatures was his Pokédex – and after a moment, learned just who this 'Tani' really was. His eyes went wide at the response.
"So, uhh... anyway, what's the plan for you?" Jake asked. He knew very well how powerful of a trainer Kitora was; Tani, and the fact said trainer was the champion of his home region, was testament to that.
Kitora's perpetual smile grew into the even more common smirk of never-ending confidence, making Jake wonder what the man's plans were. They'd been friends for a long time now, but Kitora had always been a couple years older, and was now officially an adult; something Jake had a couple years to wait for.
"Well, we're going to spend a year or so going through intense training," He began to explain. "Today is going to be one of our regularly scheduled breaks, just to get some rest in between."
Jake's eyebrow rose, "And why the training?"
There was a pause as Kitora gave a moment of thought on how to phrase it.
"We're aiming for the top of the world."
Hitsugaya blinked at Jake's explanation of what the man he'd met earlier was going for, before they decided to take cover – someone was approaching. The two of them were surprised to see Kitora Inuna there, and to watch as the man calmly pulled a flute out from his pack – and carefully played it. Stairs of medium visibility appeared, extending the small, somewhat ruined staircase that already existed there. As he started up, the two Shinigami captains followed.
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Hitsugaya's eyes were admittedly wider than normal, as were Jake's, as they returned to report to the Captain-General of Soul Society.
"Is there something the matter, Captains?" Yamamoto questioned, wondering silently what had gotten such young prodegies to be so silent and shocked.
"Er... well, sir..."
Yamamoto was admittedly surprised when he heard what had happened. His old friend had... after so many years... been legitimately captured his old friend. And from the sounds of it, the man who had captured him had an incredible amount of reiatsu. Perhaps the man was worthy of capturing said creature.
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"It's been quite a few years since you were here," A creature greeted someone. A man that had become an old friend at this point; an old friend to pretty much everyone there, including the ones that others had captured.
"Yeah..." The man said with a calm smile on his face.
"Now... the last time I did this was actually only a few decades ago. For your friend, Jake."
The man blinked with surprise, "Jake was here? You mean when...?"
"Yes," Arceus said, nodding. Kitora frowned.
"He was also here a couple of years ago," The powerful trainer said. "Wasn't he?"
"He was, along with his fellow captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya."
Kitora raised an eyebrow. Captain? He'd certainly sensed something strong about his friend, but what exactly was it? Arceus took his time to explain to his trainer exactly what he was talking about. Kitora absorbed the information carefully, being sure to understand everything by calmly and politely interrupting with questions now and then.
"So... you're sending me along the same path? Except straight to that gate in the court?"
"That's right," Arceus nodded. "I'm also sending your original team with you."
"Because the rest of you are needed here, right?"
Giratina nodded, "That's exactly it."
Kitora looked at the team that was going with him, the one that had fought against Cyrus all those years ago and won. The one that had convinced Giratina that first time to calm down and become a friend.
The shiny male Espeon that had been his friend since he was a but a child; the Empoleon that had been a Piplup from Rowan; Pidgeot, from when he found her lost and wounded and after nursing her back to health, made a new friend; Lucario, having raised him from when he was but an egg he received from a friend on Iron Island; Luxray from his early days as a trainer, now an old friend; and Rapidash had been there when he met her as a young foal, hurt and wounded, and helped her. A group of small Team Galactic lovers had finally tracked him down and ambushed him. He'd seen it coming, and had avoided it for as long as he could – but they'd finally gotten them all, when he had just reached about age 30, and his team had been with him for almost three decades.
"And... Kitora," Arceus began to say, catching his former trainer's attention again. The man found a smile on the legendary's face. "Come and visit every now and then, would you?"
"Why, do you get lonely?" Kitora teased, grinning. "Aww, does little ol' Arceus need company to keep him from getting lonely?"
Arceus' face flushed with embarrassment, and the collection of legendaries in the hall attempted to stifle their laughter. He glared at the Pokémon in the hall in, vainly trying to get them to be quiet. He muttered darkly under his breath about how he was no longer going to miss bratty trainers and their stupid jokes. After a moment, he focused, the trainer having put the Pokémon on his team into Pokéballs provided by Arceus, before starting to head towards the indicated doorway. He paused there for a moment – before waving over his shoulder at the hall and heading on through.
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Jake's head snapped up the moment the reiatsu stepped through the gate. The gate that connected Soul Society to the human world and, with Arceus' permission, to the Pokémon world. He dropped his pen immediantly, and made his way for said place. Once there, he knew he shouldn't have been surprised to see what he did; but he was. He was the first one there, and he made direct eye-contact. The one there blinked in surprise.
"Jake?"
"Kitora?"
Both of them spoke at exactly the same time, and then Jake gave a sigh.
"Damn, your reiatsu is strong! Could you suppress at least a little bit?"
"And I do that how, again?"
Jake gave a huff of exasperation, before quickly explaining, if only to save the weaker shinigami from being crushed. Kitora took very little time in doing so. His mind was as sharp as ever, it seemed.
"So... a captain, huh?" Kitora asked, coming over. He expertly ignored the stares he was getting from the shinigami nearby, most of which were sweating – some had even collapsed to their knees.
"C'mon, I'll show you the way to my office," Jake said, shaking his head at the scene. "Afterwards I'm sure the old man will want a talk with you."
"So Arceus explained a lot about this place, but he mentioned he was leaving the finer details to you," Kitora mentioned, as they walked. "Something about you being here for a couple of years. How can it have been only a couple years? It's been, like, ten for me."
"So you're in your thirties?"
"Exactly thirty, yeah."
"Great, another old man to deal with."
"Better watch it, whippersnapper, or I'll make you do the yard work," Kitora grinned. "After all, my poor old back can't handle the stress."
Jake laughed at his friend's prods, "Haven't lost your touch, have you?"
"Dude, I spent the last decade and a half with my team training my ass off. I really doubt that I would lose my touch."
"So did you get your goal in aiming for the top?"
Kitora smirked in his usual style – full of unwavering confidence.
"Oh hell yea. We kicked ass, if I do say so myself."
"Yeah? How far did you go?"
Kitora paused to think.
"Well... aside from the ones that others had already captured... I think it was a pretty successful journey."
Jake took a moment to comprehend this, before blinking.
"You're joking. You caught –"
" –Every single one that wasn't already caught. That's right."
The captain stared at his friend, eyebrows raised from the impressive feat.
"Well, how about you?" Kitora asked. "Big boss man of an entire squad, training all the time with your team, the boyfriend of one very lovely Zekrom –"
"Hey!" Jake's face flushed at this statement. "How'd you learn about that?"
Kitora laughed, "She admitted to it after I prodded her a few times. She visited me and my team every now and then over the past few years. She said that you two even –"
Jake clamped his hand over Kitora's mouth in a flash, face red and eyes darting back and forth, praying to whatever Gods existed that Kyoraku hadn't heard that. The older trainer's eyes very clearly showed how amused he was by his friend's reaction. In desperation to not be teased by any eavesdroppers, the captain grabbed a hold of Kitora and did a quick shunpo to his office.
"Whoa," Kitora said once he was let go, grabbing onto the back of a chair to support himself. "...Some sort of skill they teach you, I suppose?"
"It's called shunpo," Jake nodded.
"Flash step? The name fits. And why are you so secretive of your relationship? Zekrom is very obviously happy about it, even if Arceus and I are the only ones she's told willingly... okay, she was reluctant to tell me, but still. Reshiram and Kyurem know, but that's because they're her siblings. And no, none of us will tell anybody else unless she says it's alright."
Jake gave an audible sigh of relief as he took his seat behind his desk, making Kitora chuckle.
"You brought your team with you, right?" Jake asked after scowling from his friend's amusement.
"Yup."
"What levels are they, according to the Pokédex?"
"Each and every one of them has reach the maximum level."
Jake was silent for a while.
"...Damn. We've only just recently reached the nineties."
There was a knock at the door, and Jake said that they were welcome. Kitora noticed a familiar face.
"Hitsugaya, right?" Kitora greeted with a smile, offering for a handshake. The ice captain raised an eyebrow and decided to accept.
"You're the source of all that reiatsu from a few minutes ago?" The ice captain guessed, getting Jake to nod. "I could sense it all the way from my office."
"There's a reason I rushed out there and got him to suppress it."
Hitsugaya could understand that, but how quickly had it taken for Kitora to do so?
It was probably pretty fast, Hyourinmaru piped up in the captain's head. Remember? Kitora was able to figure out pretty quickly that we weren't human.
True, Hitsugaya agreed. It took him only a couple of minutes to figure that out.
"That's two captains that sensed my arrival," Kitora said. "Does this mean I'm going to be popular among you guys, assuming the rest noticed as well?"
"Well, considering that my barracks are literally on the other side of the Seireitei, I'd say so," Hitsugaya stated.
"Great, and I thought I got away from the celebrity crap."
"Okay, exactly how many regions did you win in before you were sent here?" Jake cut in.
"Three – Sinnoh, Johto, and Hoenn."
There was a pause of silence. Then Jake muttered under his breath about how it wasn't fair that Kitora was so good. Or something like that. Either way, Kitora laughed. That was when a Hell Butterfly decided to enter the room, and it caught the attention of the three of them. After a few moments, Jake and Hitsugaya nodded, and the creature vanished.
"Looks like the old man wants to see you for himself, Kitora," Jake said. "He's asking for us to meet with him, and to bring you along."
"So flash step again, huh?" Kitora guessed, receiving a nod in response.
In moments, the three of them were at the meeting hall of the Captain-General's barracks. Kitora raised an eyebrow at the fact that all of the other captains were there as well.
"Is there a reason that this newbie is here? I was in the middle of an experiment," Sneered a man with an odd headdress sort of style, his face white and his hair... purple? A shiver went down Kitora's spine, but he hid it well.
"Then I suppose you could just use this as another experiment," Kitora responded. "Don't forget to take notes, because this is your one and only chance to do so."
Kurotsuchi scoffed, finding the newbie to be a nuisance and not worthy of his attention.
"That is enough," The oldest captain said, smacking his cane down on the floor. Kitora noted that despite him being short a left arm, this man was clearly worthy of his position. The trainer opted to not anger him. "We are here to discuss your position in this world."
Kitora nodded respectfully. Angering this man was not on his 'To Do' list.
"First, I heard from Arceus that you were a powerful trainer. He implied you caught several Legendary Pokémon during your training career. Which ones were you able to catch?"
"Err... actually, it would be a lot easier to name which ones I didn't capture, sir," Kitora admitted. He received a nod of approval, and took a few moments to think. "Hmm... well... I never caught Zekrom or Reshiram, they just visited every now and then. Kyogre and Groudon were already caught by someone else, so never got them... uhh... never got Victini, he had a place he belonged so it didn't feel right... hmmm... oh yeah, never caught Lugia... I didn't catch Mewtwo. Didn't get Deoxys either... I think the last one is Mew – never got her. Met her, but didn't capture her... yeah, that's all of the ones I didn't capture."
Yamamoto should've been surprised – but he wasn't. The former trainer reminded him of his own training career, so long ago.
"I have called you here because of Arceus' recommendation to have you inducted into the academy as soon as possible," Yamamoto agreed, while the rest of the captains – minus Jake – were unsure of what exactly the creatures Kitora listed were. "You are currently suppressing your reiatsu, are you not?"
"Yes, I am."
"I would like to understand just how powerful you are. Show me the full strength of your reiatsu."
Kitora paused for a moment, focusing to do so. After a few moments, his admittedly palpable spiritual pressure was easily sensed. It was, indeed, strong – it was, at the very least, captain level. And a strong captain, at that. After a few moments, he retracted it and let everything settle.
"So... I'm going into the academy, sir?" Kitora asked after a minute, causing the group to start up again.
"That is correct."
There was a nod from the former trainer, and the short meeting of captains was dismissed.
"Well, that was eventful," Jake commented to Kitora, as they walked out. The older trainer snorted in amusement.
"So, you going to give me the royal tour of this place or not?" Kitora said.
"Royal, my foot," Jake said. "As long as we can avoid Twelfth Division's place."
"Is that the place for that lab freak?"
"Yup."
"Okay, yeah, let's avoid that place."
The day after Kitora learned where everything was, he started at the academy, jumping in on the year through an exam. It was going to be interesting.
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Kitora was just putting on his zanpakuto, as told to by the zanjutsu instructor. He'd jumped up several grades in this class, thanks to all of his training with his team. Not that it helped him get any friends – well, his never-endings smiles and smirks didn't help either – but he didn't mind that. He still had his team as his closest friends, and since they were no longer restricted by physical speech, he could understand them. This class was of everyone that had their own zanpakuto, not one of the trainer blades of lower classes, and they were going to be sparring without shunpo today. Each blade would be equipped with a safety cover, to make sure nobody would actually be cut. One of Kitora's earliest lessons had been controlling his reiatsu – and Jake's first instruction on hiding it helped in making sure his own blade was at a size he could actually swing.
"Alright, pair off for – sir!" The instructor cut off in an instant, bowing at who appeared. The members of the class looked, and blinked.
"Jake? What're you doing here?" Kitora asked. His classmates gaped at how he didn't refer to the man as 'Captain' or by any of the proper titles.
"Well, I heard that you were sparring today..." Jake began, grinning to Kitora, making said man grin in response.
"You and me, Jake?" Kitora guessed, getting a nod. The older man's grin turned into his usual smirk. "You're on."
"You don't mind, do you, instructor?" Jake asked of the man, who shook his head.
"Everyone else get off to the side!" He called, and the rest of the class moved out of the way, making sure the captain and the student had enough room.
"Ready, Jake?" Kitora asked, as said person took off their haori for the match.
"You bet I am."
Kitora grinned, and prepared to draw his blade, which sat at his right side, making his friend's eyebrow rise.
"Aren't you right-handed? Why is he on that side?"
Kitora's smirk widened, and he drew his zanpakuto. Pulling it straight out, then spinning it by the odd keychain that replaced the usual tassels, the trainer soon held the sword in both hands. Jake rolled his eyes.
"If you're aiming for style points, you won't be getting any from me."
"That's 'cuz you've never earned any."
"And what's with the belt? Is there a reason you've got it covered in those plates you found back home?"
"You'll see."
There was a pause as Jake drew his sword, then both former trainers charged. Kitora was, for a split second, surprised by his old friend's powerful swing that he blocked just barely – but then he grinned.
"You've gotten stronger."
"I haven't spent the last couple of years just sitting around doing paperwork."
"Not to mention you two are electric-types. Why am I not surprised? Especially considering –"
"Don't you dare say it!" Jake exclaimed, pulling back and swinging again, making Kitora chuckle as he dodged back – and grabbed a small, miniture plate on his belt.
Pulling it off with ease – they were attatched through Kitora's reiatsu, only pulling off at his command – the former trainer attatched it to the keychain loop on the bottom of his zanpakuto's hilt. The sword, which had the appearance of any other normal zanpakuto, except for the bland, gray stripe down the center of the blade and the equally bland, gray hand-guard, suddenly changed. The gray parts flashed for a moment when the dirt-colored keychain was attatched, before all of that gray changed to be that of dirt. Jake's mind raced for a moment.
Is it possible his blade is able to change its type depending on the keyblade attatched? Krezom's voice called from the back of his mind.
That's exactly what I was thinking, Jake agreed.
Kitora knew very well that Jake and his blade had figured out exactly what he and his own could do.
Well, it looks like it's just gotten a little more interesting, wouldn't you say? Kitora asked the creature that rested at the back of his mind.
I'd say so, The voice in his mind agreed easily. We're not going to hold back that much, are we?
We can't risk hurting our classmates, so aside from that, hell no!
When the blades clashed again, Jake instantly sensed that Kitora was no longer affected by the electricity running through Krezom and himself.
That keychain must've made them something of a ground-type! Krezom growled. I can't affect them at all!
Jake's eyes widened a touch, even as he and Kitora traded blows over and over, and matched each other swing for swing. Then the learning Shinigami was shocked to have Jake knock his blade out of his hands, and suddenly found himself being forced to resort to hand-to-hand combat.
I can't come grab you now, but perhaps you can do some swinging of your own? Kitora sent to his blade.
The zanpakuto with its point embedded in the floor near a classmate's foot shook silently, agreeing to the idea.
"If you want to have a better chance, you'll need to grab him, Kitora!" Jake said.
"I happen to disagree, Jake!" Kitora countered, as he used a blow from his hand to knock back his friend's next swing. "Watch and learn!"
Kitora grabbed his friend's wrist, spun him around, and planted his foot on the captain's back. With an almighty shove, Jake was forced to let go of his zanpakuto and stumble forward a couple of feet, before spinning around.
"Good work with the disarming," Jake commented. Krezom, don't you dare hold back, even in his hands!
Krezom was silent for a few moments, before giving a sense of a smirk. You got it, Jake!
Kitora noticed almost immediantly when Krezom stopped shocking his nerves in an attempt to break free. Smirk widening a bit, Kitora decided he wouldn't disappoint.
"You better watch your back, Jake, because we're still not down!"
Jake snapped to attention, and was only just able to dodge a swing from Kitora's zanpakuto. Which was swinging itself, floating there and ready to fight. Before he could question it, Jake found himself dodging a few of the more powerful swings the blade had to offer, and when he backed up into Kitora, he found himself having to dodge both the sword and his friend's fists. But wait, where was Krezom? Glancing around, he saw his blade nearby, and was quick to pick him up. In the pause that followed, he posed his question, as Kitora reunited with his sword.
"How was he able to swing on his own?" Jake asked, taking a few breaths.
"Have you forgotten, Jake? I'm one of the best at reading people. Just before you knocked him out of my hand, I swapped the keychains."
Jake noticed just then that Kitora's zanpakuto was now pink instead of dirt-colored. It must be able to have some sort of telekinesis in this form or something, in order to swing itself.
"Alright... I think that's enough of a spar for now," Jake said, relaxing out of his stance. "We're kind of letting our reiatsu leak a bit more than we want."
Kitora blinked and immediantly reigned his in, and noticed that his classmates were wide-eyed at the show that had just happened.
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"Well, Kitora," Jake said. A few years had passed at this point, and Kitora had just walked out of a testing room. "You passed, I assume?"
"Of course we did," Kitora grinned.
"Then I'll be seeing you in the meeting room from now on, right?"
"You bet."
Kitora had just reached the rank of captain, just like his friend; but unlike his friend, his reiatsu, when at its full release, was stronger than expected. Never-the-less, the Gotei 13 had just gained another powerful ally. Especially considering Kitora's bankai. The basis of it was that the zanpakuto of his, Creus, doubled in power and speed in the shikai phase – released with "Judge fairly, Creus" – but the bankai was special. He stopped having to use the plates, gaining the abilities of them all at the same time. Including the ability to fight on his own, even if Kitora is nigh-unconscious. There was a reason the Gotei 13 was now even more powerful than before...